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Abstract

Science and technology are continuously changing as new discoveries and inventions are made. Research funding agencies, project directors, and individual researches need to keep a tab on these dynamics. This chapter tracks the research directions of forensic science for a period of thirty-eight years starting from 1975. Data for the analysis was obtained from SCOPUS bibliographic and citation database. Over the study period there was an exponential growth of forensic science literature and documentation. The United States of America contributed about one fourth of the research papers published while the most prolific author was Bruce Budowle (University of Texas). The majority of the contributors were from the non-governmental sector. The Journal of Forensic Sciences was the most productive journal during the study period in terms of number of published papers. It was also found that internationally collaborated papers attracted more citations.

Evolution Of Forensic Science

The evolution of the practice of Forensic Science dates back to prehistoric period. Fingerprint patterns were used as the first means of establishing personal identity. The complex patterns inherent in fingerprints were noticed even by primitive man, as evidenced by their incorporation in prehistoric paintings and rock carvings (Ashbaugh, 2000). The use of fingerprints for identification by the Babylonians and later by the Chinese seems clear from the archaeological relics of clay tablets and other legal documents bearing the prints of interested parties (Morland, 1950). Indians studied various patterns of the papillary lines, thousands of years ago. It is presumed that they knew about the persistency and individuality of fingerprints, which they used as signatures (Nanda & Tewari, 2001). In the ancient Sangam Age Tamil literature ‘Chilapathigaram’, Kannagi, wife of the wrongly convicted Kovalan confronts the Pandya King with an anklet as physical evidence and proved his innocence. In The Holy Bible, Solomon, the king of Israel, used the principles of psychology to adjudicate when two women claimed to be the mother of the same child.